Hello Mr. Hare

With a collection of footwear that toes the line between classic and quirky, Mr. Hare has quickly achieved great success, along with a reputation for exceptional quality and premium craftsmanship. We were lucky enough to chat to the man behind the brand, Mr. Hare himself, Marc Hare.

You set up a company without any prior experience of shoe design, did you face any challenges because of this?

Yeah, loads! To this day, it keeps causing challenges because every time I make a shoe I’m sort of learning a bit more about how to do it. Making shoes is quite a complicated thing and I started off with very simple shoes and sort of gradually started making [them] more and more complicated. I’ve made lots and lots of different shoes just so I can find out how different techniques work and how different kinds of shoes are manufactured. So yeah, I’d say I would have probably made life a lot easier for myself had I gone and learnt how to do it. It’s like learning to do something in public.

Who are your style icons?

Well that’s a difficult one. I would say people like Marvin Gaye would have to be my ultimate but then, you know I’m quite a classical sort of person so people like David Bowie and Bryan Ferry back in the 70’s and 80’s were very, very stylish. When I first started making shoes, the thing I was really into was, sort of major evening elegance, so looking at Hollywood performers and the Brat Pack and people like that, because it was just very difficult to find shoes like that. It was easier to find very casual shoes or nice day shoes. Really stunning evening shoes were quite hard to find.

You were originally inspired by men’s shoes that you saw in Spain; what inspires your new collections?

Me really! Basically, I make shoes for myself, quite unapologetically, like whatever I need in terms of whatever’s missing from my wardrobe, that’s kind of the shoe that I’m going to make next. So it sort of comes down to my life and it’s interesting because I’m not the most work-inspired person in the world but now, because I’m quite busy I sort of tend to need quite smart, sensible sort of business shoes and that sort of really contradicts time off work where like I really love hot holidays. So it’s a mix of the two things. So, even just in my life, there’s lots and lots of inspiration for different kinds of shoes.

Do you have a favourite shoe from your collection?

No, I always say my favourite shoe is the next one. By the time I’ve made a shoe, I’ve got it and I’m thinking about something else.

How do you decide on names for your shoes?

That’s kind of easy, it will always be down to someone who’s kind of a hero of mine, or some stupid pun – if I’ve run out of heroes for that specific shoe. But yeah, all the famous ones will always be people that have kind of inspired me or done something that has blown me away.

If a man could only own one pair of shoes, what should they be?

It would have to be a pair of black five hole Oxfords.

Your shoes have been very popular with celebrities including Professor Green and Tinie Tempah; is there anyone that you would love to see wearing your shoes?

Mesut Özil! I’m a massive Arsenal fan so I would like to see more Arsenal players wearing Mr Hare shoes.

Is there anyone that you would like to collaborate with?

That’s a difficult one. When I first started, collaborations, I thought were a good idea and I did a few of them but then I sort of realised I had loads more to learn and that the people that I would love to collaborate with are so far ahead in what they do than I am at this point, it would be a difficult one to do. But, saying that, I would really like to collaborate with an English shoe factory because, at the moment, we make all our shoes in Italy and you can’t make English quality shoes in Italian factories. So, at the moment, to work with one of the big English houses would be fantastic.

You have had an amazing career so far; are there any plans to expand further than shoes? Perhaps clothing, accessories or a women’s collection?

I think, probably more likely, we’ll do accessories first. Leather accessories so wallets, belts, all that sort of thing – all the things that should be sort of sold alongside the shoes. I get asked about women’s all the time but I’m just really not sure. It’s hard enough for me to get motivated just to make men’s and I get to wear them. So womenswear, although it’s been touted in the press a few times, there are no plans at this point.

Where do you see yourself and the brand in 10 years?

At the moment we’re very popular because we’re new and what I do looks quite different but in 10 year’s time, I’d like to sort of have a reputation for actually, like making some of the best shoes around. I’d just like to be very good at what I do.